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Background documentationUnderstanding Workcenter Roles Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

A workcenter role in SAP NetWeaver Portal is a semantic object whose content has been designed and ordered in a structure that fully meets the SAP NetWeaver Standards and Guidelines (S&G) for Pattern-Based User Interfaces. The design-time role structure – which includes folders, pages and iViews – defines the end-user navigation at runtime. For more information about these roles, and how they differ from portal freestyle roles, see What Are Workcenter Roles and Freestyle Roles?

Structure

Runtime Structure

The runtime structure of a workcenter role in the portal is as follows:

  • Top-level navigation:

    This is the role name; selecting it calls up the Overview, which is the first second-level navigation entry.

  • Second-level navigation entries:

    • Overview:

      A folder that contains a number of worksets that are defined as views, each appearing in the detailed navigation. Each view has its own list of links to services.

    • Reports:

      A launchpad for accessing standardized reports.

    • Other second-level navigation entries, as required

    • Service Map:

      An iView that provides a list of all services that a user can access in the role. It is an alternative way of accessing the services of the Overview.

  • Detailed navigation:

    • List of views:

      Access points to applications and transactions relevant to the role, displayed in the content area.

    • List of services:

      Links to complementary applications or transactions that enable the user to perform an activity related to the open view.

    • Navigation targets:

      Where used, links to business objects related to the displayed application, giving dynamic information according to the user role.

  • Content area:

    The main section of the role, displaying the content – pages and iViews – of the selected view.

For an illustration of a workcenter role at runtime, see Structure of a Runtime Workcenter Role.

Design-Time Structure

The design-time editor used to create and edit workcenter-role content is organized according to the actual runtime layout, enabling you to define the entries of the second-level navigation, and subsequently the list of views and services. For an illustration of an open Workcenter Role editor, see Structure of a Design-Time Workcenter Role.

For information about using the Workcenter Role editor, see Adding and Editing Content in Workcenter Roles.